Hand Axes in China?: Today’s View of the Movius Line

Submitted by support on Thu, 2010-10-21 15:26.

Event Date

Mar 16 2011 -
7:30pm
- 9:30pm

Location

ES 162

Description

ABSTRACT: In 1948, archaeologist Hallam Movius proposed a theoretical line trending from northern to southern India that distinguished the Early Palaeolithic into handaxe cultures west of that line from non-handaxe (or

chopping) cultures east of that line. Because of the historic paucity of handaxes, especially from the early archaeological work at the Peking Man site (Zhoukoudian), the Movius Line became the cultural partition between east and west. Over the last 20 years, archaeological research has shown clear evidence for handaxes in East Asia including northern and southern China, and Korea. This presentation will examine some of the current discoveries in the Baise Basin, Guangxi Province, and how these artifacts may be related (or not) to their African contemporaries.